Winging it with Louis C.K.

The every-comedian who is Louis C.K.

June 09, 2011|By Christopher BorrelliTribune reporter

Comedian Louis C.K. plays the Chicago Theatre on Saturday night.

Louis C.K. has a rare distinction within the bitter little world of stand-up comedy: Among fellow comics, it's nearly impossible to find someone who doesn't consider him the contemporary watermark for the profession, the total package, an Everyman (albeit with a TV show, "Louie," beginning its second season June 23 on FX) who calls to mind the deconstruction of a Carlin, the eye of a Seinfeld and the provocation of a Pryor.

He's also a centerpiece of the Just for Laughs Chicago festival this year, with two shows at the Chicago Theatre, and though he says he loathes promotion, he admits, "I like when I put a show on sale and they give me reports. I do, because we sold out the Chicago Theatre last year, that's two shows, more than 7,000 tickets, and that feels good to me after years of learning how to fill Zanies. I need to be concerned about it, because 90 percent of my income is from stand-up. Though I wouldn't have even come back without new material."

We spoke with Louis C.K., who is performing 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. June 18 at the Chicago Theatre.

Q: How much of the material is written ahead?

A:¿ I never write material. I never sit down, then write anything out. Next time I'm onstage I'll organize my thoughts onstage and think for a second about what I want to work on. Basically, I decide right there.

Q: You write nothing at all?

A: The pressure of a laugh-expectant crowd draws out the best of you. I can always tell comedians who are new. They come out rehearsed. If you're telling a friend a story, you don't work it out first, you look at their face and get across the energy of your story.

Q: Then how do you edit?

A: Sometimes I tape shows and listen afterwards. I have kids, so I'm not able to go onstage consistently. But if I'm onstage a lot, then I don't have to think about it. I pick up where I left off and refine right there.

Q: Do you get tongue-tied?

A: Yes, when material is very new, I do. Then there's stuff where I think, "Here's a weird little area. I'm going to throw it up onstage and see if anything happens." And sometimes nothing happens. I'll hope something will inspire me or the way the audience is looking at me will inspire me. Sometimes it doesn't. It fizzles and you never recover. Which is not so bad, because it all takes place in a matter of 45 seconds.

Q: Do you look to people outside comedy for inspiration, listen to their cadences, word choices?

A: Definitely. I'm in awe ofBill Clinton, Barack Obama, the way they sell ideas, the pauses that they take, how they take responsibility for their ideas. A guy I liked to watch a lot just for the sound of his voice was Shep Smith onFox News. It's not where I get news, but there's something about him that feels like he could have been a newscaster in the '30s. The way he might use negative-sounding speech is fascinating.

Q: Obama?

A: He's very confident and he believes in the ideas that he is saying, so he doesn't sell them as much. He has a lot of respect for people. That's the feeling I get. Obama just seems certain that what he is planning is a good idea, so he just lays it out. He is very calm and even when he gets a little insistent at times, it's stirring because he will start in a good place. Clinton, on the other hand, definitely knows how to say something that hits the soul. He's Southern Baptist. There's a lot to learn in this business from preachers too. Because they also know how to get a group of rabble connected.

Q: And preachers build to a point.

A: Right. Baptists are like, "It's hot in here, so I'm going to lose this audience if I don't get them excited."

Q: Do you ever talk about working on a TV show in your act?

A: No. That would be like your toaster oven telling you what it's like to make toast. To describe what it is like to be the guy doing that? There are things in my (stage) show about being a comedian, but it's about the life of a comedian, never the process. Twice I have tried to tell a story about show business and mentioned that I have a show on TV and people applaud. And it feels cheap. It's like I just stopped the show to ask everyone if they're excited that I'm there.

Q: You know what's interesting? After doing this for decades and all the respect you've generated, you're still primarily a stand-up, not an actor-slash-writer — slash-comedian-slash-whatever. That's rare.

A: That is the thing that I still am. The one thing I can say with confidence is that I am a comedian. I have tried to make movies. I have had TV shows, and I have written and directed some and sometimes I get away with a little acting. But the one thing I definitely am is a comedian.